Month: March 2019

Apex Legends is off to a running start, but one often-requested feature isn’t in the works. Respawn has confirmed that it isn’t developing any ability to reconnect to a match after you’ve been disconnected, and explained its reasoning why.

In a post on Reddit, community manager Jay Frechette said the team isn’t pursuing it for two key reasons. The first is that a reconnect feature is very easy for unscrupulous players to abuse, presumably by intentionally disconnecting to avoid a death and then reconnecting to the match right afterwards. The second reason is simply that implementing the feature would be resource-intensive, and Respawn feels that energy is better spent on stability improvements to avoid disconnects in the first place.

This came alongside an announcement that Respawn had banned 355,000 cheaters on PC. It said that for the time being it uses the pre-made Easy-Anti-Cheat toolset, but it’s working on its own custom solutions to address cheating as well. It’s keeping these cards close to its vest, however, as it doesn’t want the cheaters to use any public information to help them circumvent the new measures.

Meanwhile, the studio has released a new weapon balance patch to make adjustments to Peacekeeper and Wingman, primarily. Another upcoming update will address concerns of unequal hitboxes. We’re also expecting details on the battle pass sometime in the near future, which will add new cosmetic options and other additions to earn through play, for a fee. The first battle pass is set to launch sometime in March.

Microsoft announced a large round of indie games coming through its ID@Xbox. The 13 newly announced games will join others for a grand total of 30 indie games being shown at Microsoft’s GDC booth.

The new additions on Xbox One include Beholder 2, CrossCode, Dead Static Drive, Door Kickers: Action Squad, Mowin’ & Throwin’, Starcrossed, and Totem Teller. Another handful were announced for both Xbox One and PC: Boomerang Fu, Hyperdot, Stela, The Forgotten City, UnderMine, and Unrailed. You can check out a full list of all 30 games being shown at GDC at the Xbox blog.

On top of its ongoing indie support through the ID@Xbox program, Microsoft has been shoring up studio acquisitions. It’s also one of the few remaining big publishers planning a big showcase at E3. A host of rumors and reports have begun circulating, including word of a disc-less Xbox option and a reveal of its next-generation console.

Whatever Microsoft has in store, Halo Infinite appears primed to be the centerpiece. We know it will be shown, and that it’s targeting PC and Xbox One rather than waiting for the next generation of consoles. We’ve also recently gotten some indication that it could adopt a games as service model, though 343 Industries has had to assuage concerns about microtransactions.

The Game Developers Conference runs March 18 through March 22. It will include a keynote presentation from Google, which may debut its own entry into video games.

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The first full trailer for Aladdin is here. The movie is one of three live-action adaptations of classic animated Disney movies due in 2019 and it’s set to hit theaters in May. While a short teaser was screened during the Super Bowl in January, this is the first proper look we’ve had at the movie.

The new trailer lays out the plot, which will be familiar to anyone who has seen the 1992 original. A street boy named Aladdin (Mena Massoud) discovers a magical lamp, which conjures a singing, dancing, wise-cracking genie (Will Smith). The genie grants him three wishes, with which he sets about wooing Princess Jasmine (Naomi Scott) and avoiding the evil Jafar (Marwan Kenzari). It’s packed with action, romance, and classic Aladdin songs–check it out above.

The movie is directed by Sherlock Holmes’s Guy Ritchie and releases on May 24. When the first trailer screened in January, the response to Smith’s muscular all-blue genie definitely caused a mixed reaction. However, this new trailer suggests that it might be kept a minimum, with Smith appearing in many scenes in a more ‘human’ guise.

In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, Smith talked about taking on the role of the Genie, which was famously played by Robin Williams in the classic 1992 animated movie. “Whenever you’re doing things that are iconic, it’s always terrifying,” he said. “The question is always: Where was there meat left on the bone? Robin didn’t leave a lot of meat on the bone with the character.

“[But] I started to feel confident that I could deliver something that was an homage to Robin Williams but was musically different. Just the flavor of the character would be different enough and unique enough that it would be in a different lane, versus trying to compete.”

Aladdin is just one of several classic fairy tale remakes that Disney has on the way. Tim Burton’s reimagining of Dumbo hits theaters later this month, while a new version of The Lion King arrives in July. Beyond that, the remake of Mulan is scheduled for 2020, plus movies based on Cruella De Ville (101 Dalmations) and Tinker Bell (Peter Pan) are reportedly also in development.

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Bandai Namco has released a new trailer for the Tale of a Timeless Tome DLC for Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom. The DLC is scheduled to release on March 19, and the new trailer details what the expansion will add to the game. The trailer can be watched below.

Tale of a Timeless Tome adds a new character to Ni no Kuni II: a mysterious rabbit who’s wearing a suit. According to the trailer, protagonist Evan and his allies encounter this new character in “a curious place where people’s memories mix and mingle.” The trailer gives off a fantastical Alice in Wonderland vibe, before taking a darker turn and introducing The Nightmares, which are the enemies threatening to destroy this charming world.

To fight this threat, Evan gains access to several new magical abilities that he learns through The Wizard’s Companion. The trailer also showcases him relying on Pikman-like creatures in combat, a new method of fighting called spritecraft that Evan learns through Martha’s Methods. The Nightmares aren’t the only new threat Evan encounters either, as the trailer also showcases an arena called Solosseum Slog where the young king and his allies must battle through waves of challenging enemies.

Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom is available for PS4 and PC, and Tale of a Timeless Tome is coming to both systems. Tale of a Timeless Tome is the second and final piece of content included in the Season Pass for Ni no Kuni II. The first piece of content, titled The Lair of the Lost Lord, came out in December 2018. Like Tale of a Timeless Tome, The Lair of the Lost Lord introduced a brand-new world into Ni no Kuni II, and also continued the game’s story, added more items, and implemented additional combat mechanics.

In our Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom review, Peter Brown gave the game an 8/10, writing, “Ni No Kuni 2 is a robust game that offers ample ways to spend your time, and even if they aren’t all up to the same level of quality, it’s easy to appreciate how they collectively contribute to the bigger picture. It’s chock full of excellent battles and surprising moments that make for a far more memorable experience than you initially expect and leaves you impressed by your own accomplishments. If you didn’t play the first game, don’t let this one pass you by too.”